Korekore | Istock | Getty Images Japan’s plans to return to using more nuclear power have been welcomed by the International Energy Agency, with one of the agency’s directors telling CNBC that it represented “very good and encouraging news.” On Wednesday, Japan’s prime minister said his country would restart more idle nuclear power plants and examine the feasibility of developing next-generation reactors. Fumio Kishida’s comments, reported by Reuters, are based on statements he made in May. They come at a time when Japan – a major energy importer – is trying to strengthen its options amid continued uncertainty in global energy markets and the war between Russia and Ukraine. Speaking on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Thursday morning, Keisuke Sadamori, who is director of the IEA’s energy markets and security office, was positive about Japan’s strategy. “This is … very good and encouraging news in terms of both security of energy supply and climate change mitigation,” he said, adding that Japan had been “burning a lot of fossil fuels to fill the gap from the lack of nuclear power since the Fukushima accident”. Fossil fuel markets, particularly natural gas markets, have been “very tight,” Sadamori explained, noting that this is especially true in Europe. “This restart of Japanese nuclear plants would be good in terms of freeing up a significant amount of[s] of LNG on the global market,” he said.
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Sadamori, who previously held positions at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and was executive assistant to a previous Japanese prime minister in 2011, was asked about the timetable for building new nuclear plants. New constructions, he replied, would take a long time. “I understand that the announcement by … Prime Minister Kishida yesterday focused more on new types of nuclear power plants, including SMRs — small modular reactors.” “They’re still in, basically, a development stage, so … we need to accelerate those developments,” he added. The most important aspects were, he argued, restarting existing facilities and extending the life of existing facilities.
Great turn
If fully implemented, Japan’s planned moves would represent a turnaround for the country’s energy policy after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, when a powerful earthquake and tsunami led to a meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Given its recent history, the IEA’s Sadamori was asked about current public sentiment in Japan on nuclear. “That’s the hardest part,” he said, adding that the Japanese still has some safety concerns. Citing “difficult situations in the energy market” as well as Japan’s “very tight electricity market”, Sadamori said public sentiment in the country was nevertheless “changing a bit”. “We are seeing more people supporting the restart of nuclear power plants, based on … recent surveys by major Japanese newspapers,” he added. “So I think things are improving a little bit, but I think the … public, local acceptance issue is still a very difficult part of the nuclear restart.” The importance of public support is highlighted in an outline of Japan’s 6th Strategic Energy Plan. “The sustainable use of nuclear power will be promoted on the basic premise that public confidence in nuclear power must be gained and that safety must be ensured,” it says. Japan aims for carbon neutrality by 2050. Under an “ambitious outlook,” its Strategic Energy Plan envisions renewables accounting for 36% to 38% of the electricity generation mix in 2030, with nuclear accounts for 20% to 22%. While Japan may be refocusing its attention on nuclear, the technology is not favored by everyone. Critics include Greenpeace. “Nuclear power is touted as the solution to our energy problems, but in reality it is complex and extremely expensive to build,” the environmental group’s website states. “It also creates huge amounts of hazardous waste,” he adds. “Renewable energy is cheaper and can be installed quickly. Together with battery storage, it can produce the energy we need and reduce our emissions.” During his CNBC interview, Sadamori was asked why focusing on renewables and directing investment to such areas was less sustainable for Japan than a return to nuclear power. The country, he said, had “very ambitious programs to expand renewable energy.” These included solar PV and wind, especially offshore wind. While Europe had “enormous” offshore wind resources, Japan was “less endowed with … good renewable resources in this respect”. To this end, nuclear power, in particular the active use of existing plants, should be a “very important part” of the strategy to reduce emissions and achieve carbon neutrality by mid-century.
